Attachment and process for sewing tabs to garments



Nov. 11,1969 K. WEl-GEZRT 3,477,398

ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR K421. b e/ 527 Nov'. 11, I969 K. WEIGERT 3,477,398

ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Nov. 11, 1969 l K. WEIGERT Filed Jan. 4. 1965 ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENTS 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 4 a 26 4 M T 1 7 M f H a? I /z4 :1:- /Z? B A6924 h/qaer ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 K. WEIGERT Nov. 1 1, 1969 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR q N K424 1447;527- 1% I ATTORNEYS Nov. 11, 1969 1 K. WEIGERT 3,477,398

ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 MMMW ATTORNEYS ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS T0 GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 K. WEIGERT Nov. 11, 1969 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 EYS 11; ll HI- INVENTOR ATTORN /6M ma ,1 u u IIIJTIIII Illllllll IJIIIIII r l l I l I I l l I Ill P llllllllll Nov. 11, 1969 K. WEIGERT 3,477,398

ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR 1424 Pila /g6???- Nov. 11, 1969 l K. WEIGERT 3,477,398

ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS T0 GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 1o Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR K421. 11/5/9254? l0 Sheets-Sheet 9 VV/////////////////////////////////// Q Q r T ////Q m T M m W 4 t w m o E Q 5:: g: 2/ fi QN v V A Q m fl// A m Q 4 K. WEIGERT ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS 'I'O GARMENTS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 No'v. 1.1, 1969 w T 3,477,398

ATTACHMENT AND PROCESS FOR SEWING TABS TO GARMENIS Filed Jan. 4, 1965 lo Sheets-Sheet 10 1 l '3: T q a;

20 Z? 4 ,-M fl a? J6 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent York Filed Jan. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 423,091 Int. Cl. D05b 3/12, 37/04 US. Cl. 112-104 27 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for sewing a tab to a garment, and a tab attachment to be used with a bar tack machine for me chanically bringing about the sewing of a tab to a garment. According to the process, the garment is placed at an edge portion thereof over an end of a tape which is then cut at a distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the tape which is covered by the edge portion of the garment, so as to form from the tape a tab which is then folded over the edge portion of the garment. Then the tab is bar-tacked to the edge portion of the garment. The tab attachment includes a support means which supports a length of tape at a position where an edge portion of a garment is adapted to overlap an end portion of the tape, and a severing means of the tab attachment is located adjacent to the support means to cut through the length of tape at a distance from the edge portion of the garment so as to separate from the length of tape a tab which is to be sewn to the edge portion of the garment. The tab attachment further includes a folding means which is located next to the support means for folding around the edge portion of the garment the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion thereof, and a control means of the tab attachment is operatively connected with the severing means and the folding means as well as to the bar-tacking machine for first actuating the severing means to cut through the tape, for then actuating the folding means to fold the tab around the edge portion of the garment, and for then setting the machine into operation to sew the tab to the garment, all during a single operating cycle of the control means.

The present invention relates to the sewing of tabs to garments for the purpose of reinforcing seams thereof, for example.

In particular, the present invention relates to a tab attachment which can be used on any conventional bar tack machine, as well as to a process for sewing tabs to garments.

It has been conventional heretofore to purchase the tabs as preformed units. These tabs are conventionally applied manually to the garment and are then sewn thereto with a conventional bar tack machine, Thus, at the present time the operator of the machine manually folds a tab over an edge portion of a garment, and with the tab thus held in proper position on the garment the bar tack machine is operated to sew the tab thereto.

Of course, these operations are inconvenient and time consuming as well as relatively expensive because of the fact that considerable labor is required and it is necessary to purchase a supply of preformed tabs to have on hand.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a method and structure for sewing tabs to garments at a fraction of the cost heretofore required for sewing tabs to garments.

In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide a process and apparatus which make it possible to eliminate the necessity for separate tabs which must be preformed and instead to make it possible to attach tabs to a garment directly from a length of tape such as a suitable supply roll from which the tabs are derived as an integral function of the sewing of the tabs to the garments.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a tab attachment which requires very few manipulations on the part of the operator in order to sew a tab to a garment.

In addition, one of the objects of the present invention includes an attachment which can be very simply operated with but a single manipulation on the part of the operator in order to carry out automatically such operations as proper positioning of a tape at a location where a tab is to be cut therefrom, folding the tab over the edge of the garment and sewing of the tab to the garment.

In particular, the objects of the invention include the provision of an attachment of the above type which is characterized by simplicity of its parts and reliability in the operation thereof.

The present invention also includes many specific objectives, such as preventing vibratory movement of the machine during operation thereof from advancing a tape, preventing any conflict between the needle, presser-foot assembly of the machine, and structure for folding a tape over the edge of a garment, and providing structure for setting different units into operation one after the other while a single control is continuously moved along a given path.

The process of the present invention primarily includes the steps of placing an edge portion of a garment over an end portion of a length of tape, after which the tape is cut through at a distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape which is covered by the edge portion of the garment, so that in this way a tab is separated from the tape, and thereafter the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment is folded over the edge portion of the garment, whereupon the folded over tab is sewn to the garment.

The structure of the attachment of the invention primarily includes a support means which supports a length of tape at a predetermined position where an edge portion of a garment is adapted to be placed over an end portion of the tape. This structure of the invention includes a severing means adjacent the support means for cutting through the tape at a distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape over which the edge portion of the garment is placed. In this way a tab is separated from the length of tape which may be in the form of a suitable supply roll from which the tape is drawn. A folding means of the attachment of the invention is located next to the support means for the tape and folds the part of the tab which projects beyond the garment over the edge portion thereof. According to a further feature of the invention a control means is provided and is operatively connected with the severing and folding means as well as with the machine itself for first actuating the severing means to cut through the tape, for then actuating the folding means to fold the tab over the edge portion of the garment, and for then setting the machine into operation to sew the tab to the garment, these sequential activations of the severing means, the folding means, and the machine by the control means of the invention being carried out in a single operating cycle of the control means.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one possible embodiment of an attachment according to the present invention, the attachment being shown in FIG. 1 connected with a conventional bar tacking machine which is fragmentarily illustrated at that part thereof which is connected with the attachment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the structure of FIG. 1 as seen from the side of the structure which is not visible in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation showing the needle bar of the machine and the presser foot of the attachment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the attachment as shown in FIGS. 1-3, on an enlarged scale, as compared to FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 4 taken along line 55 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of part of the structure shown in FIG. 5, taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the lower part of the attachment of the invention, FIG. 7 being taken along lines 77 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary partly sectional side elevation of that part of the structure which includes the control means, the control means being shown in FIG. 8 during an initial part of the actuation thereof;

FIG. 9 shows the control means of FIG. 8 at a stage in its operation subsequent to the stage illustrated in FIG. 8, FIGS. 8 and 9 in particular illustrating how a severing means of the invention is actuated by the control means;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic top plan view showing a further stage in the operation of the control means, FIG. 10 in particular showing stages subsequent to that of FIG. 9 Where the folding means has been actuated to fold a tab over an edge of the garment and where the machine has then been set into operation;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 1111 of FIG. 7, and showing, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 7, the structure for folding the tab as well as structure for supporting the tape;

FIG. 12 shows the structure of FIG. 11 during actual folding of a tab and lowering of a presser foot of the attachment;

FIG. 13 shows the structure of FIGS. 11 and 12 at a stage of their operation subsequent to the stage illustrated in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary plan view taken along line 1414 of FIG. 13 in the direction of the arrows and showing the arrangement of the presser foot and the manner in which the sewing operations are carried out;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary elevation showing a tab sewn to a garment; and

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the tapeadvancing and positioning structure of the invention.

GENERAL ARRANGEMENT The work which is accomplished with the process and apparatus of the present invention, is illustrated in FIG. 15. As may be seen from FIG. 15, the garment 20 has a tab 22 extending around an edge portion thereof. The bar tack machine will, in a well known manner, provide a rectangular line of stitches 24 which attaches the tab 22 to the edge portion of the garment 20. The garment 20 has, for example, an elongated seam 26, and the tab 22 is placed across this seam at the edge portion of the garment 20 and is stitched by the stitches 24 to the garment so as to reinforce the seam 26.

In order to produce the work shown in FIG. 15, the structure of the invention includes a support means A which supports the tape in a predetermined position, the tabs 22 being derived from this tape. This support means A appears in various figures, such as FIGS. 1 and 5.

With the tape positioned by the support means A, a severing means B, also indicated in FIGS. land 5, is-provided for cutting through the tape so as to separate a tab therefrom. The action of the severing means is indicated most clearly in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Located next to the support means A is a folding means C for folding the tab over the edge portion of the garment, and this operation is shown most clearly in FIGS.

The attachment of the invention is mounted on a conventional machine D which includes an element 28, shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, which is driven in a well known manner by suitable structure of the machine D so as to carry out the square or rectangular motion. The attachment of the invention is connected directly to the motion transmitting element 28 of the machine, so that the entire attachment of the invention carries out the square motion with the motion transmitting element 28 of the machine which carries out this square motion in response to actuation by conventional structures known in bar tack sewing machines. The machine includes a frame 29 on which all of the structure is mounted. In addition the machine, of course, includes a sewing head 30, and at the front of the sewing head is situated the needle bar 32, shown carrying a needle 33, as well as a cam bar 34 which moves downwardly from the position thereof shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 when a cycle of operations is initiated.

A control means E is provided for actuating first the severing means B, then the folding means C, and for then setting the machine into operation, in response to a single operating cycle of the control means E, which in the particular example illustrated is manually operated, as indicated, for example, in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The structure also includes an advancing means F shown in FIGS. 1 and 16, as well as in additional figures, for advancing the tape so that after sewing of one tab to a garment is completed, the tape will again be in a proper position for sewing the next tab to the next garment. In connection with the advancing means F, a means H (FIG. 16) is provided for maintaining the advancing means F out of engagement with the tape during the actual operation of the machine to sew the tab to the garment, so that in this way vibratory motions of the machine will not result in undesirable advance of the tape.

The attachment of the invention has a base plate 36 which is fixed to the square motion cam element 28 by screws 38, for example, so that in this way this plate 36 which carries the structure of the attachment will carry out the square motion and the entire structure will therefore move along a rectangular path with respect to needle 32 during the sewing operation. This plate 36 is formed at its underside with a groove which receives the elongated motion transmitting element 28, as indicated most clearly in FIG. 5. The plate 36 has forwardly of the motion transmitting element 28 a relatively thin portion which rests on the frame 29 of the machine, and, as is most clearly shown in FIG. 7, at its front relatively thin portion plate 36 is formed with a square or rectangular opening 40 through which the needle passes into a needle hole 42 in the frame or table 29 of the machine. The relatively thin portion of the plate situated forwardly of the motion transmitting element 28 defines a substantially rectangular recess 43 (FIG. 7) at the upper side of the plate 36, and this recess is substantially surrounded by a relatively thicker portion of the plate 36 which at its front edge 44 defines the stop means G which serves as a stop means for determining the location of the edge of the garment 20. Thus, as is shown at the lower left portion of FIG. 5, the garment 20 is placed with its edge against the stop means G, defined by the front edge 44 of the thicker portion of the plate 36, so that in this way the garment will be properly positioned. At this time the garment is, of course, situated over the front portion of the plate 36 which is formed with the opening 40, so that the sewing will take place adjacent the edge of the garment, to provide the work shown in FIG. 15.

TAPE SUPPORT MEANS The support means A is in the form of an elongated rigid channel member 46 carried by a suitable bracket 48 (FIG. 1) which is fixedly mounted on the plate 36. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the bracket 48 also carries a wire support 50 on which is mounted the roll of tape from which a length of tape is withdrawn to be guided and moved along the support means A in order to prop erly position the tape. The tape 52 is shown in FIG. 5 extending along the interior of the elongated channel member 46.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, it will be seen that the elongated channel member 46 is provided with upwardly extending elongated side walls 54 between which the tape 52 is guided downwardly so that the free end of the tape 52 will be situated on the front end of the plate 36 over the opening 40 thereof.

Adjacent their rear ends the pair of side walls 54 carry a cross-pin 56 which extends across the space between the side walls 54, and this cross pin 56 supports an elongated lever 58 which is provided at its front end with teeth 60 which engage the top surface of the tape, so that the tape will not be moved rearwardly once it is advanced. This elongated lever 58 is formed with an elongated slot 62, shown mostly clear in FIG. 6, for a purpose described below. A spring 64 has a free end pressing against the upper surface of the lever 58 adjacent its pivot 56 so as to urge the lever 58 downwardly in order to hold the teeth 60 in engagement with the tape. This spring 64 is in the form of an elongated leaf spring fixed it its upper ear end to the underside of a cross plate -66 which is fixed to and extends across the space between the walls 54, this plate 66 being fixed to the upper edges of the walls 54 at the rear ends of the latter.

TAPE ADVANCING MEANS The tape advancing means F include a springy member 68 which forms a tape pusher, and this springy member 68 has a toothed end 70 extending into the slot 62. By extending into and through the slot 62 the free end 70 of the tape pusher 68 can engage the tape 52 in order to advance the latter. At its upper ear end the tape pusher 68 is fixed by screws 72 to a sleeve 74 which is retained by a screw 76 on a rod 78 which supports the sleeve 74 for rotary movement. This rod 78 has, as shown most clearly in FIG. 6, a threaded end 80 carrying a nut 82, and this threaded end 80 is of reduced diameter and extends through an opening in a lever 84 of the tape advancing means F. Thus, by extending through this opening of the lever 84 the nut 82 can be placed on the threaded end 80 of the rod 78 for mounting the latter on the lever 84. A coil spring 86 is coiled about the rod 78, has one end extending over an edge of the lever 84, and has another end extending over the upper surface of the tape pusher 68, so that in this way the tape pusher is always urged downwardly toward the tape.

As is shown most clearly in FIG. 2, the lever 84 is in the form of a bell crank carried by an arm 88 which is fixed to one side of the channel member 46 and extends upwardly therefrom as indicated in FIG. 2, this arm 88 having a substantially L-shaped configuration. At its free end this arm 88 carries a pivot pin 90 on which the bell crank 84 is supported for turning movement. The bell crank 84 has an upper arm 92 formed with an elongated slot 94 by which the bell crank is connected with an elongated connecting rod 96 carrying at its top end a suitable bolt and nut assembly 98 extending through the slot 94 so as to pivotally connect the top end of the connecting rod 96 to the bell crank 84. The bottom end of the rod 96 is pivotally connected to a lateral extension 100 of a slide plate 102 which is guided for vertical sliding movement.

A main supporting frame member 104 is fixedly carried by the plate 36 of the attachment of the invention, and this substantially C-shaped frame member 104 is provided at its front end with a groove in which the plate 102 is guided for vertical movement. A retaining plate 106 is fastened by suitable screws to the front face of the grooved front end of the frame 104 so as to retain the plate 102 in proper position for vertical sliding movement, and, as shown most clearly in FIG. 4, the groove in which the plate 102 is guided is open at its left side, as viewed in FIG. 4, as by being formed with an elongated opening 108, so that in this way the extension 100 can extend freely beyond the retaining plate 106 so as to be connected to the connecting rod 96. A suitable retaining screw 110 pivotally connects the bottom end of the connecting rod 96 to the extension 100 of the slide plate 102.

As is shown most clearly in FIGS. 4 and 5, the retaining plate 106 is formed with a vertical slot 112 through which a pin 114 extends forwardly beyond the retaining plate. This pin 114 is threaded to the slide plate 102 and rests on the top surface of a rigid member 116 which is fixed to the cam bar 34 of the sewing machine.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the supporting frame member 104 carries a pin 128 about which an elongated wire spring member 120 is coiled, and the rear end of this spring 120 extends through an opening formed in an extension 122 of the frame member 104. The front end 124 of the spring 120 pressed against the top end of the slide plate 102 so as to constantly urge the latter down- Wardly. In the rest, non-operating position of the machine, however, the structure of the machine retains the cam bar 34 in the upper position illustrated in the drawings, with the result that the member 116 acts on the pin 114 to retain the plate 102 in its upper rest position in opposition to the force of the spring 120. However, when the machine is set into operation the cam bar 34 moves downwardly in a well known manner, and, of course, through the action of spring 120 the slide plate 102 will follow the downward movement of the cam bar 34. In order to adjust the force of the spring 120, screw member 126 (FIG. 1) is threaded to an extension of the frame member 104 and presses against a portion of the spring so as to regulate the force thereof.

As is apparent from the structure thus far described, when the machine is set into operation the plate 102 will move downwardly, with the result that the bell crank 84 will be turned in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 5, so that the tape pusher 68 will now be retracted rearwardly along the tape 52. However, the lever 58 will prevent rearward movement of the tape with the tape pusher 68. At the end of an operating cycle the cam bar 34 will automatically return to its upper rest position, thus raising the slide plate 102 and returning lever 84 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 5, to the rest position illustrated in FIG. 5, and a result at this time the tape pusher 68 will be advanced forwardly so that its toothed front end of engagement with the tape will advance the latter forwardly by a predetermined increment. The tape pusher 68 is shown in its retracted rear position, which it takes during operation of the machine, in dotted lines in FIG. 5 and the advancing means F is also shown in its retracted position in FIG. 16.

Because of vibrations of the machine during the sewing operations it might be possible for the tape pusher 68 to undesirably advance the tape during the sewing operations if the tape pusher 68 engaged the tape during the actual sewing, and in order to prevent this result a means H is provided in order to maintain the tape pusher 68 out of engagement with the: tape during the actual sewing operations. For this purpose one side wall 54 of the channel member 46 is formed with a cutout 130 the configuration of which is shown most clearly in FIG. 5. This cutout 130 thus provides the side wall 54 with a depressed surface 132, indicated most clearly in FIG. 6. This surface 132 supports for sliding movement an elongated adjusting plate 134 formed with an elongated slot 136. A pair of screws 138 are threaded into the wall 54 at its depressed surface 132 and extend through the slot 136, these screws 138 having heads of a diameter greater than the width of slot 136, so that these screws 138 serve on the one hand to guide the adjusting plate 134 and on the other hand to fix the latter in an adjusted position to the side wall 54 which is provided with the cutout 130.

At its front end the plate 134 fixedly carries an elongated camming pin 140 which extends into the space between the pair of side walls 54 and which is situated beneath the tape pusher 68. The position of the plate 134 is adjusted in such a way that when the slide plate 102 is lowered in order to retract the tape pusher 68, the underside of the tape pusher 68, at the inclined front end portion thereof, will engage the camming pin 140 to be deflected by the latter to a raised position where the toothed front end 70 of the tape pusher 68 is out of engagement with the tape 52, and the parts are shown in this position in FIG. 16. Thus, by properly adjusting the position of the plate 134, it is possible during the sewing operations to maintain the tape pusher 68 out of engagement with the tape, so that the tape cannot be undesirably advanced as a result of vibratory movements of the machine. Of course, when the slide plate 102 moves back to its upper rest position at the end of the cycle of operations, the pusher 68 will be advanced forwardly so that it will move away from the camming pin 140 and Will again engage the tape so as to advance the latter. In this way, with the process and apparatus of the invention, at the end of the cycle of operations the tape is advanced so as to be properly positioned for the next cycle.

SEVERING MEANS As has been indicated above, a severing means B is provided for cutting through the tape so as to separate a tab 22 therefrom. This severing means B includes a substantially U-shaped member 142 made of a rigid plastic so that it is not electrically conductive, and this member 142 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4-6. At its free ends the U-shaped insulating member 142 extends into recesses 144 .formed at the exterior surfaces of the front ends of the side walls 54 of the rigid support member 46. Screw members 146 are threaded into the side walls 54- and extend through openings at the free ends of the U-shaped member 142, so that in this way this member is supported for turning movement relative to the si e walls 54, and, of course, at its front end the U-shaped member 142 extends across the space between the side walls.

Adjacent its front end the U-shaped member 142 is formed with a pair of lateral slots extending inwardly fom opposed side surfaces thereof and receiving, for free turning movement, a pair of metal levers 148 which are electrically conductive. FIG. shows a screw member 150 threaded into the U-shaped member 142 and extending through an opening of the lever 148 which is shown in FIG. 5 so as to pivotally support the latter. These levers 148 and their pivots 150 are also apparent in FIG. 4 which in addition shows the slots 152, in dotted lines, in which the electrically conductive levers 148 are supported for turning movement by the pivots 150.

The lower front surfaces of the levers 148 are formed with recesses which receive screw members 154 which serve to fix to the levers 148 an enlongated electrically conductive wire 156 made of nichrome, for example, so that when this wire 156 is heated it will be capable of cutting through the tape. It is to be noted that the particular tape 52 which is used may be made of nylon, so that in addition to severing the tape by burning a path therethrough, the wire 156 will seal the edges of the tape, and thus the tabs derived from the tape will have properly sealed edges as a result of the cutting through by the hot wire 156.

The upper ends of the levers 148 are curved rearwardly, as indicated most clearly in FIG. 5, and these upper ends carry insulating sleeves 158 which are made of any suitable electrically non-conductive material which is also resistant to heat. A coil spring 160 has its ends connected to the insulating sleeves 158 so as to be insulated from the metal levers 148 and this coil spring 160 is under tension and seeks to turn the lower ends of the levers 148 apart from each other, so that in this way the cutting wire 156, which expands when heated, is always maintained straight, taut and under tension. As is shown most clearly in FIG. 4, the levers 148 carry screws 162, respectively, which serve to connect to these levers electrical wires of the electrical circuit for the hot wire 156, so that when the machine is in operation it is possible to provide an electrical circuit for heating the hot wire 156 so that it will be in a condition for cutting through the tape when the severing means B is actuated in a manner described below.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that a wire spring 164 is fixed at one end by a screw 166 to the support 46, and an elongated free end 168 of the spring 164 extends into an opening of the arm of the U-shaped member 142 which is visible in FIG. 1, so that the spring 164 urges the U-shaped member 142 to turn in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1.

An elongated stop bar 170 is fixed at its rear end to the side surface of the support member 46 which is visible in FIG. 1, and this stop bar 170 extends over the member 142 so as to limit the upward movement thereof by the spring 164.

As is most clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, one of the arms of the U-shaped member 142 is integral with a laterally extending projection 172 formed with a bore which slidably receives a pin 174 urged outwardly of this bore by a spring 176 situated in the bore, so that this assembly 172176 forms a projecting assembly projecting from the U-shaped member 142 and acted upon by structure described below for setting the severing means B into operation.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the length of tape 52 extends downwardly along the upper surface of a wear plate 178 carried by the support member 46, the tape extending all the way down to the relatively thin front portion of the plate 36 over the opening 40 thereof. The garment 20 is placed with its edge in engagement with the stop means G, and the seam of the garment is centrally aligned with the tape 52. With the garment thus resting on an end portion of the tape the severing means B is actuated in a manner illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, and described in greater detail below, so as to cut through the tape at a location spaced from the edge of the garment by a distance approximately equal to the extent to which the take extends beneath the garment and in this .way a tab is separated from the tape.

FOLDING MEANS Thereafter, it is necessary to fold, over the edge of the garment, the portion of the tab which projects beyond this edge, and this result is accomplished by the folding means C of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5 it will be seen that the folding means C includes a guide member 180 of inverted channel-shaped configuration fixed to the top surface of the plate 36 and guiding an elongated slide bar 182 for longitudinal movement. As is shown most clearly in FIG. 7, one side of the guide 180 is formed with a slot through which an arm 184 of the slide member 182 extends so that this arm 184 can move with the slide member 182 forwardly and rearwardly.

Referring now to FIGS. 11 and 12, as well as to FIG. 7, it will be seen that the front end of the slide bar 182 9 is hingedly connected with a rear hinge plate 186. This rear hinge plate 186 is in turn hingedly connected at its front end to the rear end of a front hinge plate 188. The front end of the front hinge plate 188 is fixed, as by welding, for example, to a rod 190 which is supported for rotary movement at its ends in thicker portions of the plate 36, these thicker portions forming the front shoulder 44 which provides the stop means G for the garment. Thus, as the slide bar 182 is advanced forwardly from the position indicated in FIGS. 7 and 11, the pair of binge plates 186 and 188 will assume the position indicated in FIG. 12, with the result that the front hinge plate 188 turns forwardly and downwardly so as to fold the tab over the edge of the garment, as indicated most clearly in FIG. 12.

As will be apparent from the description below, the sequence of operations is such that the slide plate 102 starts to move downwardly when the folding means C has the position shown in FIG. 12. A presser foot 192 is situated over the front end of the plate 36 and the bottom part of the presser foot is in alignment with the opening 40, as is clearly apparent from FIG. 14. This presser foot 192 is fixedly carried by a support member 194 which is in turn fixedly carried by the slide member 102, so that as the latter moves upwardly and downwardly the presser foot 192 will move upwardly and downwardly therewith. When the presser foot 192 moves downwardly, it will engage the folded over portion of the tab, as indicated in FIG. 12, and during the continued operation of the components of the attachment, the presser foot 192 will move downwardly together with the plate 102 until the presser foot has the position shown in FIG. 13, and during this continuation of the downward movement of the presser foot from the position of FIG. 12 to the position of FIG. 13, the slide plate 182 is retracted so that the folding means returns to its rest position as indicated in FIG. 13.

It is to be noted that the rear wall of the presser foot is formed at its bottom end with an upwardly extending notch 196 which is great enough to permit unimpeded movement of the folding means back to its rest position even though the presser foot has moved downwardly to the position of FIG. 13, so that there is no interference between these components while at the same time the presser foot will reliably engage a tab which has already been folded over at least to the extent indicated in FIG. 12. Furthermore, the timing of the sequence of operations is such that the folding means will have been retracted at least to the dot-dash position indicated in FIG. 13, before it can be engaged by the needle which is carried by the needle bar 32 of the machine.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 10, it will be seen that the arm 184 fixedly carries a pin 197 which extends into a longitudinal notch formed in one end of an elongated lever 198 which is pivotally connected to the plate 36 by a pivot 200. The lever 198 of the folding means C is connected with a lever 202 which is pivotally connected to the lever 198 by the pivot 200, the levers 198 and 202 overlapping each other at their common pivot and having inclined shoulders 204 engaging each other. The overlapping relationship between the levers 198 and 202 is shown most clearly at the lower left portion of FIG. 4.

A spring 206, coiled about the pivot 200, extends at one end into an opening of the lever 202 and at its other end is fixed to a screw 208 which is carried by the lever 198, and thi spring 206 urges the lever 202 to turn in a clockwise direction about the pivot 200, as viewed in FIG. 7 with respect to the lever 198. This arrangement of the levers 198 and 202 is such that when the left edge of the lever 202 is urged to the right, as viewed in FIG. 7, the lever 198 will turn together with the lever 202 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 200, while at the same time the lever 202 is free to turn in opposition to the spring 206 in a counterclockwise direction with respect to the lever 198, as viewed in FIG. 7.

A spring 210 is connected at one end to the screw 208 and at its opposite end to a screw 212 carried by the plate 36, so that this spring 210- urges the entire lever assembly 198-202 to turn in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 7, about the pivot 200. Thus, it is the spring 210 which retracts the folding means C to its rest position shown in FIG. 7.

CONTROL MEANS The sequence of operations carried out by the attachment of the invention is believed to be apparent from the above description. First the severing means B is actuated to sever a tab from the tape, then the folding means C is actuated to fold, over the edge of the garment, the part of the tab which projects from this edge. Finally, the sewing machine itself is put into operation to carry out the bartacking. In accordance with the present invention, a control means E is provided for actuating the attachment components so that they will carry out this sequence of operations, and this control means E in the illustrated example is manually operable, although it will be clear from the description that follows that the control means of the invention could just as well be operated by actuation of a suitable pedal, so that the operator could use a foot to actuate the control means, if desired.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, it will be seen that the control means E includes the manually turnable lever 214 which is supported for turning movement by an elongated pivot pin 216. This pivot pin 216 has a reduced end portion extending into an opening of one of the side walls 54 of the support means A, and a set screw 218 serves to fix the 'pivot pin 216 to the support means A. The pin 216 has an elongated portion of reduced diameter extending through a bore of the lever 214 so a to support the latter for turning movement, and a collar 220 is fixed by a suitable set screw to the pin 216 so as to retain the lever 214 on the pin 216, the lever 214 being free to turn but being restrained against axial movement on the pin 216.

The lever 214 has a forwardly and upwardly directed portion 222 which is adapted to be engaged by a finger of the operator. The lever 214 also has an upwardly and rearwardly directed portion 224 connected to a spring 226 which, as shown most clearly in FIG. 2, urges the lever 214 to turn in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2. In addition the lever has a downwardly directed leg 228 formed with an elongated slot or notch 230 which receives a pin 232.

The control means E includes an elongated slide bar 234 which carries the pin 232, and a guide bracket 236 (FIG. 2) is fixed to theunderside of the plate 36 and guides the bar 234 for longitudinal movement. The outer side wall of the guide 236 is formed with an elongated slot through which the pin 232 freely passes into the slot 230 of the arm 228 of the lever 214. At its portion which is located over the guide 236 for the bar 234, the plate 36 is formed with an elongated slot 238 over which the turnable lever 202 extends, and the bar 234 fixedly carries an upwardly directed pin 240 which extends through the slot 238.

It is therefore apparent, particularly from FIG. 2, that the spring 226 by urging the lever 214 to turn in a counterclockwise direction, acts on the pin 232 for urging the slide bar 234 forwardly, and this forward movement is limited by engagement of the pin 240 with the front end of the slot 238, so that in this way the rest position of the control means is determined.

During actuation of the control means, the downwardly directed leg 228 of the lever 214 thereof will swing rearwardly, and located in the path of rearward movement of this leg is a switch actuating member 242 which serves to close a microswitch 244 (FIG. 10) when the lever 214 has been turned to a predetermined position. The closing of the microswitch 224 serves to actuate the machine so as to set the latter into operation so that now the cam bar 34 will start to move down, thus enabling the slide plate 102 to move down. In this way the presser foot 192 approaches the folded over portion of the tab.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-6, it will be seen that the lever 214 fixedly carries at its right side surface, as viewed in FIG. 4, a substantially wedge-shaped cam 246 which engages the spring-pressed pin 174 of the projection of the severing means B. The taper of the wedge-shaped cam 246 and its orientation with respect to the operating projection of the severing means B is clearly apparent from FIGS. 4-6.

OPERATION The above-described structure of the invention operates in the following manner:

At the start of a cycle of operations the length of tape 52 is already in its position which has been predetermined by the extent to which the tape 52 is advanced by the tape pusher 68. In order to start a cycle of operations the operator will place a garment 20 on the front end portion of the tape with the edge of the garment engaging the stop means G. Of course, it is to be assumed that the main switch has been turned on, that the wire 156 is hot and in condition for cutting through the tape, and that all of the various motors and transmissions are in readiness for operation.

Having placed the garment with its edge against the stop means G and over the free end portion of the tape which extends forwardly over the opening 40, the operator will simply engage the arm 222 of the lever 214 so as to turn the latter in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in i FIG. 8. As a result the operator will now turn the lever 214 in opposition to the spring 226 with the result that the leg 228 starts to advance the pin 232 rearwardly, so that the entire slide bar 234 starts to shift rearwardly, and of course the upwardly directed pin 240 approaches the lever 202. Also, the leg 228 of the lever 214 approaches the switch actuating element 242.

However, the lever 214 must be turned through a certain angle before the pin 240 engages the lever 202, and it is during the approach of the pin 240 toward the lever 202 that the cam 246 cooperates with the projection of the severing means B for actuating the latter. Thus, as may be seen from FIG. 8, the earn 246 by engaging the spring-pressed pin 174 will turn the severing means B downwardly in opposition to the spring 164, and the heated wire 156 will burn through the tape. As may be seen from FIG. 5, the part of the tape which is engaged by the hot wire 156 extends over a free space, and in addition any part of the support means which can possibly be engaged by the wire 156 is made of an electrically non-conductive material. The wire 156 does not exert any particularly great pressure on the tape and simply burns its way through the nylon tape so that a very accurate cut is made.

FIG. 8 shows the parts in the position they take just at the end of the cutting operation. It is to be noted that the lower left corner of the cam 246 is about to ride downwardly beyond the spring-pressed pin 174. As soon as the operator has turned the lever 214 downwardly through a slight distance beyond'the position in FIG. 8, the cam 246 moves past the spring-pressed pin 174 so that the spring 164 will immediately snap the severing means B back up to its rest position where it engages the stop bar 170, and this is the position indicated in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 7, the above-described actuation of the severing means B takes place before the pin 240 has been moved rearwardly through a distance suflicient to place it in engagement with the lever 202. However, shortly after the cam 246 moves downwardly beyond the projection of the severing means B, the angular position of the lever means 214 will be such that the pin 240 will engage the lever 202, and now during the continued turning of the lever 214 the folding means C will be actuated. It is to be noted that at this time the leg 228 has not yet engaged the switch-actuating member 242. Thus, as the operator now continues the turning of the lever 214, the

pin 240 will engage the lever 202 so as to turn the latter together with the lever 198 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 200, as viewed in FIG. 7, in opposition to the spring 210, with the result that the slide bar 182 is advanced forwardly and the folding means is actuated in the manner shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 and described above.

FIG. 10 shows in solid lines the position which the parts take when the lever 214 has been turned to an angle which has actuated the folding means C so that it has the position in FIG. 12. It is to be noted that at this time the pin 240 has almost reached the end of the lever 202 and is about to ride past this lever to the dotted line position of the lever 240 shown at the right end of the slot 238 in FIG. 10. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the leg 238 of the lever 214 has just engaged the switch actuating member 242 so that the switch 244 has closed and has set the conventional sewing machine structure into operation, so that it is for this reason that the presser foot 192 has already started to move down when the parts have the position shown in FIG. 12.

The operator of course continues to turn the lever 214 until the pin 240 reaches the dotted line position shown in FIG. 10, and of course the leg 228 will also simultaneously advance to the dot-dash line position shown in FIG. 10. During movement of the pin 240 from the solid to the dotted line position indicated in FIG. 10, this pin moves away from the lever 202 of the folding means C, so that now the spring 210 can retract the folding means to its rest position shown in FIG. 7. Thus, as the presser foot 192 continues to descend to its lowermost position, the folding means will move through the dot-dash line position shown in FIG. 13 back to the solid position shown in FIG. 13.

It is to be emphasized that while the detailed description of the various operations which take place during turning of the lever 214 by the operator may give the impression that the actions take place in a slow, deliberate manner one after the other, the fact is that in the actual operation all of these operations take place very quickly. The operator turns the lever 214 from its starting position where the pin 240 engages the front end of the slot 238 to its end position Where the pin 240 engages the rear end of the slot 238 in a fraction of a second, and the moment when the pin 240 is in the solid line position in FIG. 10 as distinct from the dotted line position of FIG. 10 is imperceptible. Thus, for example, it is impossible for the operator to turn the lever 214 so that the pin 240 will remain in the solid line position of FIG. 10. The lever 214 is turned in a single swift operation with very little effort by the operator, and in a small fraction of a second the control means has brought about the desired sequence of operations which include the severing of the tab from the tape, the folding of the tab, and the initiation of the operation of the bar tack machine.

Of course, once the operator feels theengagement of the right end of the slot 238, as viewed in FIG. 10, by the pin 240, the operator will release the lever 214 so that the spring 226 will return the control means to its initial position. At this time, the folding means C will have reached, or at least will have almost reached, the rest position thereof shown in FIG. 7. Thus, as the pin 240 moves back toward the position shown in FIG. 7 it will again engage the lever 202. However, because of the spring 206 and the inclination of the shoulders of levers 198 and 202 which engage each other as indicated at 204, the lever 202 can turn in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 7, with respect to the lever 198, so that the pin 240 can move to the left, as viewed in FIG. 7, past the lever 202 while deflecting the latter in opposition to the spring 206, and once the pin 240 moves beyond the lever 202 the spring 206 will return lever 202 to its position indicated in FIG. 7.

The parts have all now returned to their initial positions, with the exception of slide plate 102 which remains in its lower position until the bar tack operation is completed. Although the leg 228 of lever 214 has now moved away from the switch-actuating member 242, so that switch 244 is open, the conventional circuit of the sewing machine has a suitable holding relay, or the like, which maintains the machine energized so that the bar tack operation will continue even though the switch 244 opens.

As has already been pointed out above, the lowering of the plate 102 has resulted in turning of the bell crank 84 so as to retract the tape pusher 68 to the dotted line position shown in FIG. as well as to the position indi cated in FIG. 16, where the camming pin 140 has raised the tape pusher 68 out of engagement with the tape so that there is no possibility of vibrations of the machine undesirably advancing the tape during the sewing operations.

Once the stitching has been completed the machine automatically turns itself off and the parts will return to their rest position. Thus, the conventional machine structure will raise the needle bar 32 and the cam bar 34, and during the raising of the latter the member 116 will act on the pin 114 to raise the slide plate 102 in opposition to spring 120, so that as a result bell crank 84 is swung in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 16, displacing the tape pusher 68 forwardly beyond camming pin 140 so that the lower free end of the tape pusher can now engage the length of tape 52 so to advance the latter to the predetermined position were it will be in readiness for the next cycle of operations.

It is a simple matter, if desired, to connect lever 214 to a suitable linkage which can be actuated by a foot pedal for the purpose of turning lever 214 in the manner described above, so that if desired the attachment of the invention can be operated by the foot of the operator. Furthermore, although the operator will invariably release the lever 214 as soon as pin 240 engages the right end of slot 238, as viewed in FIG. 10, a further safety feature can be provided by designing the electrical circuit of the machine in such a way that the operating cycle of the conventional sewing structure will terminate even if it should happen that the operator has for some reason maintained the pin 240 at the right end of slot 238, as viewed in FIG. 10, throughout the entire sewing operation,

so that the switch 244 remains closed. In other words, it 'fmay be desirable to prevent the sewing machine from repeatedly going through the bar tack sewing operation if it should happen that for some unknown reason the operator maintains the switch 244 closed. It has been found that in actual practice, the operator releases the lever 214 as soon as pin 240 reaches the rear end of the slot 238, and since the bar tacking operation still requires several seconds to be completed, switch 244 is invariably opened before the end of the bar tack operation.

It is also to be noted that while a hand or foot actuation by the operator has been mentioned above, it is also possible to provide an electrical actuation. For example, the armature of a solenoid can be connected to the lever 214 to swing the latter about its pivot in the same way that the lever is turned by the operator, and with such construction all the operator need do is momentarily close a switch to energize the solenoid, so that in this way also the attachment of the invention can be very simply and conveniently actuated.

Of course, when the lever 214 is released to be returned by the spring 226 to its rest position, the side surface of the lever 224 which carries the cam 246 will displace this cam past the spring-pressed pin 174 which at this tims is pressed by cam 246 into the bore of projection 172 in oppositon to spring 176 until the lower, thicker end of cam 246 moves upwardly beyond element 174, whereupon this element snaps back to its illustrated position. Thus, the wedge-shaped configuration of earn 246 enables the latter to displace pin 174 inwardly against the force of spring 176 during return of lever 214 to its rest position.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for sewing a tab to a garment, comprising the steps placing an edge portion of a garment into overlapping relationship with an end portion of a length of tape, cutting through the length. of tape at a distance from said edge portion of said garment substantially equal to the extent to which the latter overlaps the tape, to separate a tab from the tape, folding, over the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab extending beyond the edge portion thereof, the bar tacking the folded over tape to the edge portion of the garment.

2. A process for sewing a tab to a garment, comprising the steps of placing an edge portion of a garment over an end portion of a length of tape, cutting through the length of tape at a distance from said edge portion of said garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape which is covered by the edge portion of the garment, so as to separate from the length of tape a tab to be sewn to the garment, folding, over the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment, and bar tacking the folded over tab to the garment.

3. A process for sewing a tab to a garment, comprising the steps of placing an edge portion of a garment over and end portion of a length of tape which forms part of a supply roll of said tape, cutting through the tape at a distance from said edge portion substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape covered by the garment to separate from the roll a tab to be sewn to the garment, folding the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment over said edge portion, and bar tacking the folded over tab to the garment.

4. In a process for sewing a plurality of tabs to a plurality of garments, comprising the steps of placing an edge portion of a garment over an end portion of a length of tape, cutting through the tape at a distance from said edge portion substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape covered by the garment, to separate from the tape a tab to be sewn to the garment, folding, over the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion thereof, bar tacking the folded tab over the garment, and, immediately subsequent to the bar tacking of the tab, advancing an end portion of the length of tape into position to be situated beneath the edge portion of the next garment to which a tab is to be sewn.

5. For use with a bar tack machine, a tab attachment comprising, support means for supporting a length of tape in a predetermined position where an edge portion of a garment is adapted to overlap an end. portion of the length of tape, severing means located adjacent said support means for cutting through the length of tape at distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape overlapping the edge portion of the garment, so as to separate from the length of tape a tab to be sewn to the edge portion of the garment, folding means located next to said support means for folding, around the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment after said severing means cuts through the length of tape, and control means operatively connected to said severing means and folding means as well as to the bar tacking machine for first actuating said severing means to cut through the tape, for then actuating said folding means to fold the tab around the edge portion of the garment and for then setting the machine into operation to sew the tab to the garment, during a single operating cycle of said control means.

6. The combination of claim 5 where-in said attachment includes an advancing means which responds automatically to the end of the sewing of a tab to a garment for advancing the length of tape to said predetermined position in preparation for the sewing of the next tab to the next garment.

7. For use with a bar tack machine, a tab attachment comprising, support means for supporting a length of tape in a predetermined position where an edge portion of a garment is adapted to be placed over an end portion of the tape, severing means located adjacent said support means for cutting through the length of tape at a distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape covered by the garment so as to separate from the length of tape a tab to be sewn to the garment, folding means located next to said support means for folding, over the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment, and operator-actuated control means operatively connected to said severing means, said folding means and to the machine for first actuating said severing means to cut through the tape, for then actuating said folding means to fold the tab over the edge portion of the garment, and for then setting the machine into operation to sew the tab to the garment.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherin said operator-actuated control means is manually operated.

9. The combination of claim and wherein a stop means is carried by said support means for determining the location of the edge portion of the garment.

10. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said support means includes an elongated channel in which the tape is guided, and wherein said support means supports the tape at said predetermined position with the end portion of the tape positioned beneath the needle of the machine.

11. For use with a bar tack machine, a tab attachment comprising, support means for supporting a length of tape in a predetermined position where an edge portion of a garment is adapted to be placed over an end portion of the tape, severing means located adjacent the support means for cutting through the tape at a distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape covered by the edge portion of the garment, to separate from the tape a tab which is to be sewn to the garment, folding means located next to said support means for folding, over the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment, control means operatively connected to said severing means and folding means as well as to the machine for first actuating said severing means, for then actuating folding means, and for then automatically setting the machine into operation for sewing the folded over tab to the edge portion of the garment, during a single operating cycle of said control means, advancing means responding automatically to the end of the sewing of a tab to the edge portion of a garment for automatically advancing the length of tape into said predetermined position in preparation for the sewing of the next tab to the edge portion of the next garment, and means operatively connected to said advancing means for maintaining the latter out of engagement with the length of tape during the sewing of a tab to the garment.

12. For use with a bar tack machine, a tab attachment comprising, support means for supporting a length of tape in a predetermined position where an edge portion of a garment is adapted to be placed over an end portion of the length of tape, severing means located adjacent said support means for cutting through the length of tape at a distance from the edge portion of the garment substantially equal to the length of the end portion of the tape covered by the garment, so as to separate from the length of tape a tab to be sewn to the garment, folding means located next to said support means for folding, over the edge portion of the garment, the part of the tab which projects beyond said edge portion, and control lever means operatively connected to said severing means, said folding means, and the machine for actuating said severing means during a first increment of turning of said control lever means from a predetermined starting position, for then actuating said folding means during a second increment of turning of said lever means immediately subsequent to said first increment of turning thereof, and for setting the machine into operation, to sew the tab to the garment, substantially immediately subsequent to said Second increment of turning of said control lever means.

13. The combination of claim 12 and wherein a return means is operatively connected to said control lever means for returning the latter automatically to said starting position thereof after the machine is set into operation to sew a tab to the garment.

14. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said severing means is in the form of an electrically conductive wire which is heated to burn through the tape in order to cut the latter to separate a tab therefrom.

15. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said folding means includes a front hinge plate pivotally connected to said support means at a front end of said plate and positioned beneath the part of the tab which projects beyond the edge portion of the garment, a rear hinge plate hinged at a front end thereof to a rear end of said front hinge plate, and an elongated slide member hinged to said rear hinge plate at a rear end thereof, said control means shifting said slide member toward said front hinge plate to act on the latter with said rear hinge plate to fold the tab around the edge portion of the garment while said hinge plates turn relative to each other into overlapping relationship with respect to each other, said folding means having a rest position where said hinge plates and slide member are situated substantially in endto-end relation without any overlapping of said hinge plates.

16. The combination of claim 5 and wherein the attachment includes a presser foot located over the end portion of the tape, and means carrying said presser foot and responding automatically to setting of the machine into operation by said control means for lowering the presser foot into engagement with the folded over tab.

17. The combination of claim 16 and wherein said control means retracts said folding means away from the folded over tab upon lowering of the presser foot, said presser foot being formed with a cutout through which the folding means passes during retraction thereof by said control means.

18. The combination of claim 16 and wherein said means which carry said presser foot for lowering the latter also raise said presser foot at the end of the sewing of a tab to the garment, and advancing means, operatively connected to said means which carry said presser foot, for advancing the length of tape into said predetermined position upon raising of the presser foot away from the tab.

19. The combination of claim 18 and wherein said means which carry said presser foot retract said advancing means back into a position in preparation for advancing the length of tape into said predetermined position upon lowering of the presser foot.

20. The combination of claim 18 and wherein said advancing means is in the form of a leaf spring, a free end of which presses against the tape during advancing of the latter, and a pin located in the path of retraction of the leaf spring for raising the latter out of engagement with the tape during the sewing of a tab to the garment.

21. The combination of claim 20 and wherein an adjusting means is operatively connected to said pin to adjust the location thereof.

22. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said severing means is turnably connected to said support means, spring means operatively connected to said severing means for maintaining the latter in a rest position, and said severing means having an operating projection, said control means including a lever turning about a predetermined axis and carrying a cam which engages said operating projection to move said severing means in opposition to said spring means for cutting through the tape, said cam turning during operation of said lever beyond said projection to release said severing means to said spring to be returned thereby to said rest position while said control means continues to operate for actuating the folding means and for then setting the machine into operation.

23. The combination of claim and wherein the machine includes an electrical switch for setting the machine into operation, said control means actuating said switch to set the machine into operation immediately subsequent to actuation of the folding means.

24. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said control means includes a longitudinally shiftable slide member having a pair of mutually perpendicular pins projecting therefrom and a manually turnable lever having a leg formed with an elongated cutout receiving one of said pins for shifting the said slide member during turning of said lever, said folding means including an assembly turnable for actuating said folding means and located in the path of movement of the other of said pins to be actuated thereby for folding the tab, said lever actuating said severing means prior to engagement of said folding means by said other pin.

25. The combination of claim 24 and wherein said other pin moves beyond said assembly of said folding means just prior to setting of the machine into operation for sewing the tab to the garment, said assembly including first and second levers, said first lever being yieldably connected to said second lever and said other pin moving past said first lever during return of said control means to a starting position thereof without actuating the said assembly of said folding means.

26. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said severing means includes an electrically conductive wire which is heated to burn through the tape, in order to sever the latter, a pair of levers respectively having ends to which said wire is connected and between which said wire extends, and springs means connected to said levers for urging said ends thereof apart from each other to maintain said Wire under predetermined tension.

27. For use with a bar tack machine, a tab attachment comprising, support means for supporting a length of tape,

severing means located adjacent said support means for cutting through the length of tape to separate a tab therefrom, folding means located adjacent said support means for folding the tab around an edge portion of a garment,

and control means operatively connected to said severing means and folding means as well as to the bar tacking -machine for first actuating said severing means to cut UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1956 Loden 112-2 X 9/1957 Cobin 112423 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 112-130 

